Friday, October 4, 2013

The Vampire Diaries 5.01 Review: Your Problems Follow You No Matter Where You Go

This is your only warning; if you
haven’t watched the season five premiere of The
Vampire Diaries, entitled ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, or are simply
not caught up at all in the series, then now would be the time leave. As with
all my reviews, there is a chance of spoilers. I repeat, THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

The season five premiere wasn’t as
great as other premieres this series has had. I find it didn’t have quite the
oomph of past years. Maybe it had something to do with the fact last year
wasn’t much of a cliffhanger season finale, so it didn’t quite excite me to see
the premiere as all the years before it. Or maybe this series is just becoming
tiresome and tedious. Either way, something good really needs to pick this show
up from the cliff it’s growing closer to hanging over.

First can I just say how very Gossip Girl it was of this show to throw
that whole threesome thing in with Matt, Rebecca, and that other girl? Yes,
this show is on the same network that series was on, but this is not the same
show, please demonstrate some originality. Also, who was that girl? What did
they do to Matt? And why was it completely necessary to keep Matt and Rebecca
together all summer, just to have her written off this show with very little tie-ups?

I’m really confused, why is there
water in Stefan’s coffin/vault? Shouldn’t it have been sealed? Aside from that,
why is he breathing? He’s a vampire, he should not be breathing. Yes, in this
series there bodies work much the same as long as they keep ingesting a steady
supply of blood, but Stefan’s not ingesting any blood. His body should not be
forcing him to drown over and over again, otherwise he wouldn’t be a vampire.

Also, can I add how very Angel it is for Stefan to be at the
bottom of a body of water, constantly imagining scenarios that never happened
in his head? Can this show not come up with anything at all that is original,
other than the title of it’s sister series? I don’t want to see the same things
that have been acted on screen on other TV series, I want something new, and I
very much thing the writers and showrunners owe their audience that.

I have to say I’m really not a fan
of Stefan being Silas’s doppelganger. They already had a line of doppelgangers,
why in God’s name did they have to add another? They really can’t come up with anything original. It’s truly
aggravating. Not only that, but I’m not a fan of how they’re now playing Silas.
They built up to be this truly badass, and he just seems like a washed up
version of Klaus pre his love for Caroline. I was completely down for when
Stefan shut off his emotions, but this guy is also just a mirror of that. Can
Wesley not play something new and different?

Last season, the way they ended it
with giving Katherine the cure, was completely fitting for her character,
almost poetic, now she doesn’t even seem like Katherine. When she’s begging for
help from Damon, she just seemed too much like Elena. In the past, Dobrev has
been able to differentiate these characters significantly, including when
Elena’s emotions were turned off, this year I don’t really feel like these
characters are very individualized, or even fully formed characters. In making
Elena happy, she almost seems un-Elena.

One highlight of the episode was
definitely Damon. Somerhaulder is astounding in his acting of this role,
particularly in the scenes where he plays off the Silas character. The guy
still has his sarcastic charm too him. And I still felt that subtle moment
where he questions where Stefan is, and is pained when he finds out. That and
the teary moment where he rushes to Jeremy and hopes he still has enough life
in him that his blood will bring him back to life (and can I just say, if he
hadn’t, what a waste of Bonnie dying to bring him back to life in the first place?).

Can I just comment on how unhappy
I am with the way they’ve gone with Tyler? When he had a thing for Caroline,
before they started dating, he had become a much more interesting, werewolf
character, but ever since he became a hybrid he’s been terrible. The way this
series keeps making excuses for his character not being, it just doesn’t feel
organic to the story. Why would he fight for his relationship with Caroline, and
basically not care when Klaus has left the building? It just feels to me like
they’re trying to keep him out of the story for random reasons, just to let him
rear his hybrid head again.

Several questions before I sign
off. What is Elena’s connection with Stefan? I’m getting too much of a True Blood vibe from the way she senses
something bad about him. Also, are they still trying to play up this love
triangle? It was interesting for the first few seasons, but if they’re thinking
of going back to that, it’s tired. Buffy
was able to rely on good storylines, not love triangles; I don’t see why The Vampire Diaries can’t. Or is it just
that Stefan hasn’t been able to get over it, because he’s stuck at the bottom
of a lake?

My rating: 6 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to run in heels? I have
blisters.” – Katherine, human again.

“Yes! In the privacy of your home!” – Damon explaining to
Jeremy how he killed him in private, which is how he should take out
frustrations on people.

Okay, so I’m still debating on whether I actually want to
watch The Originals tonight, or if I
just want to go watch August Rush and
finally see if I’d like Felicity.
Either way, I won’t be posting a review tonight. Check back here tomorrow
night, around twenty-four hours from now for that one. Then I’ll probably be
reviewing Haven, or, if I do end up
having to go to that funeral for my great uncle, that’ll be up here Saturday
night/Sunday morning. Anyways, have a nice night.